Breakfast in Sicily

We are staying at a lovely hotel, Hotel Feudo Vagliasindi (www.feudovagliasindi.it/) just outside of a medieval town of Randazzo. There is nothing around here except vineyards and olive groves, with a stunning view of Mt Etna from the terrace in the front and of surrounding hills with some houses.  When you wake up in the morning and look out from the window, this is what you see, and all you hear is birds singing.  You don't even hear the sounds of vespa going up and down the streets or sirens of police cars as you would do in bigger towns and cities in Italy. Just peaceful and relaxing.

Having breakfast with a stunning view of Mt. Etna.

We have some croissants dusted with white sugar with selection of strawberry or apricot jam, but last few mornings I have been having it with Nutella. We also have some selections of fruits such as peaches, pears, purple and dark red grapes as well as blue plums and apples. This morning I had mango yoghult instead. There are abundance of fresh fruits available everywhere yet Italian do not seem to have fresh fruit juices for breakfast and they tend to serve diluted juices.  I have tried this lime-green juice but I have not figured it out what it is .... And of course, we both have cappuccino!

Have a nice day!

Razzle dazzle in Randazzo - sweet experience near Mt. Etna

We are in Randazzo, a lava-built medieval town closest to the volcano craters of Mt. Etna. It's a small town yet has so much history with different influences from Norman, Greek and Spanish occupations in the past, which you would easily miss if you don't explore on foot.

Santa Maria Cathedral - built in a 13 century

Anyway, our local guide Natale has taken us to a wonderful Pasticceria Arturo on Via Umberto for a lovely coffee and sweets after exploring the town.  Apparently this is a historic coffee house with a beautiful Art Nouveau interior, serving delightful pastries, cakes and sweets, all handmade of course!

There were so many choices and all looked very delectable. Natale selected some for us to try; these were Pasta di Mandorla and Pasta di Pistacchio (small cakes/soft cookies made of almonds and pistachio - these are really nice and soft inside), cannoli (filled with sweet ricotta cheese) and white chocolate with pistachio nuts. There is also a small green ball which, I think, is made of almonds and pistachio paste and covered with chopped pistachio nuts.  All these are really delicious and go very well with strong Sicilian espresso!!!

We met the pastry chef, took a photo with her and managed to say from my Italian phrase book, 'I really enjoyed it' in Italian to her to compliment her wonderful cakes and sweets. Note, many people around here do not speak much English so the phrase book comes really handy!!!

We then went to the local Enotecca - wine shop with delicatessen near the town's main square, Il Buongustaio (www.ilbuongustaildipipocala.it).  The owner has poured two different types of lovely Etna Rosso for us to try each, with different types of Sicilian cheese including the one with pistachio nuts in it too. Both bottles were fantastic but 2010 Rosso was really marvellous and it's 15%!!!  Well, being a perfect or model consumer and feeling so happy with lovely sweets and vino, we ended up buying the bottle to take home - one day we shall open this bottle for reminiscing the wonderful time we were razzle-dazzled in Randazzo!!!!

What we are eating in Sicily

Well, guess where we are....we are in Sicily now!!!   I am writing this, sipping lovely glass of vino and looking at Mt Etna!  Weather is lovely, sun but not too strong with nice breeze, temperature around 24C. The place is surrounded by vineyards and just relaxing. What else can we ask for???

Enjoying local wine with local Pistachio with a view of Mt Etna. 

Daughters, Emily and Maria are already asking what we have had for lunch earlier when we arrived. In our household, the first thing we ask each other, after hello, is 'what did you have for lunch or dinner?' Yes, we are all obsessed about food in our house....but in a good way.

Anyway, my husband and I had a light and quick lunch to share between us.  The hotel knows we don't eat meat so they made us local pasta dish, pasta alla norma - tomato sauce with aubergine (or eggplant). The pasta was handmade and cooked perfectly al dante dressed with very delicious rich tomato sauce with aubergine with a hint of basil. My husband does not like aubergine but he really enjoyed this one. And I really liked the pasta - handmade pasta tastes so much nicer and this one was well coated with the sauce.

This pasta dish was one of my 'To Eat' list in Sicily so I can now cross this one off the list already!

We also had grilled vegetables - sliced grilled aubergine and green and red peppers. Olive oil dressing was really rich in golden colour, with touch of dense but sweet balsamic vinegar and some crushed garlic. It was really tasty exactly as it looked and we mopped up all the dressing with lovely Sicilian bread. 

We are meant to get fish for dinner. I wonder what's for dinner....

What I want to eat in Sicily....

My husband and I will go back to Sicily again this month for holiday. It all started when my sister in law and her husband went to Palermo while ago and recommended us to go there. I could not find any good flight connections to get there and could not decide on a hotel to stay, I started looking for package tour to Sicily and we ended up going to Taormina. That was 2 years ago and we really enjoyed our holiday there.

View of Mt Etna from our hotel ground in Taormina

We thought we would then go to Palermo this time, but again could not find good flight connections and any hotels we fancied.  One day I was watching some food and wine programme on TV and saw a presentor visiting a winery at the foot of Mt Etna and had a wonderful lunch there. I thought why not staying at agriturismo near there, perhaps at Tenuta San Michele,  the one owned by Murgo wine producer. Unfortunately the Agriturismo Murgo was fully booked for dates we wanted to stay but we now have found another great place to stay near Mt Etna.

Anyway, I bought a book of Sicilian cooking Eat Smart in Sicily by Joan Paterson and Marcella Croce (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eat-Smart-Sicily-Decipher-Adventure/dp/0977680118/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347562546&sr=1-1) when we went to Taormina for the first time but never properly appreciated this book then. Now more obsessed about Sicily and its cuisine, I revisited this book and have noted all the Sicilian food I want to eat this time.  Here are my list:

• arancine agli spinaci - deep fried, saffron-colored rice balls filled with spinach and béchamel sauce.
• brioche con gelato - sweet brioche bun cut open and filled with gelato.
• caponata - one of my favorite; sweet and sour eggplant dish, served cold or at room temperature.
• carciofi arrostiti - roasted artichokes: mixture of olive oil, chopped mint and garlic is poured into artichoke hearts, which are then wrapped in aluminium foil and roasted over hot coals or in warm ashes.
• cassata - classic Sicilian cake of Arabic origin; assembled from layers of sponge cakes and almond paste (marzipan) filled with sweet ricotta cream, and beautifully decorated with icing, candied fruits and zucchini preserves. 
• cuscus di pesce - couscous with fish.
• insalata di arance - orange salad; oranges are peeled, sliced and mixed with smoked herring and sliced scallions, and dressed with olive oil and salt. 
• involtini di melanzane - eggplant rolls; slices of eggplant are grilled or fried and then rolled around a mixture of toasted bread crumbs, pine nuts, currants and cheese.
• pasta alla Norma - pasta with tomato sauce, diced fried eggplant and grated salted ricotta.
• pasta con acciughe e mollica - pasta with toasted bread crumbs and anchovy fillets. 
• pasta con i broccoli arriminati - pasta stir-fried with a cauliflower sauce with currants, pine nuts, saffron and anchovies dissolved in olive oil. If you have ever watched Inspector Montalbano, you would know what I am talking about.
• pasta con le sarde - saffron-coloured pasta with fresh sardines, wild fennel leaves and a small dollop of sun-dried tomato.
• pesto di pistacchio - pistachio pesto. 
• spaghetti con bottarga - spaghetti with grated, salted tuna roe (bottarga), olive oil and garlic.
• spaghetti con il nero di seppia - spaghetti with black cuttlefish ink.

Let's see how many I can cross off this list when we return from our holiday to Sicily...